from my heart...

i was reading in matthew this morning and loved the pictures

 that jesus revealed to the pharisees and teachers of law.

he revealed to them that they were focusing too much on certain teachings

and the really important things were being ignored.

"you give to god one-tenth of everything you earn-even your mint, dill, and cumin. 

but you don't obey the really important teachings of the law-justice, mercy, and being loyal.

 these are the things you should do, as well as those other things."

it got me thinking just how important justice, mercy, and loyalty are. 

he then gives them the picture of washing the outside of their cup,

but missing the inside. 

*

women (especially myself) tend to put a lot of priority on cleaning.
i grew up learning from my own mother about the importance of it.

we tidy up our homes, our families, and most importantly ourselves.

we spend hours everyday working to make things presentable.

i think every woman knows the importance of a clean cup inside and out. 

but do we apply that same principle in our own lives to the unseen things?

do we make ourselves shiny on the outside hoping to cover up what is really going on in secret?

do we master the clean living room only to hide the troubles in our own home?

do we buy the latest fashion trends in hopes of appearing that we have it all together?

do we spoil our children out of the guilt of not being there?

do we make excuses for our husbands to cover up the hurt of not feeling loved?

jesus wants us to not forget the really important things. 

he is always reminding us that the inside is what counts. 

there is quick pleasure in a clean home, but there is true happiness in a peaceful home. 

i hope everyone finds justice, mercy, and loyalty today where it really matters.

hello out there...

i am still alive...

we survived the midnight showing of hunger games with some dear friends in

which i had lamb for the first time.

*

my husband and i also survived the cap10k

which was the hardest thing i have ever done in my 30's.

 the streets in austin were a ghost town before the race

 there were many creative costumes

 the sun was blinding



but it was a beautiful day

 this was the sea of people in our section that were behind us waiting to start.

(the guy smiling asked me to tag him on facebook ;)

 we had the best fan base...

i am so glad to check this off my list.

we are finally rested up and moving on.



this weekend starts at midnight...

this sums up my weekend

*midnight premiere of hunger games with friends @ 12:10am

*sunday capital 10K



march 20th

happy first day of spring!

spring break

it's spring break

and my children are staying with my parents for the whole week.

i miss them.

my parents live on the water and have taken them out on their boat

several times and my dad is even teaching them to fish with their 

brand new fishing poles he let them pick out.

they are allowed donuts for breakfast and dessert and get to stay up super late.

i can't wait to hear all about their adventures during their much deserved time off.

until then, chad and i are living like we did 9 years ago.

i think i might have washed only 5 dishes so far this week. 

we make plans to do whatever want on the fly.

we have lots of relaxing time.

no one needs me to answer a single question.

i have chad all to myself.

 

i had forgotten what life was like without young children around.

it's nice.

but, i still miss them... a little bit ; )

10 things i have learned since running...

10 things i have learned since running:

1. i'm slow.
2. it's hard.
3. it makes my calves grow twice their size.
4. i don't like having big calves.
5. i walk like i'm 80 years old in the morning.
6. i hurt all the time.
7. i need new shoes.
8. hills are my enemy.
9. my heart feels stronger.
10. 6 miles is very long.

i'm not ready!!!

our furry first born...

chad and i got a cat right around our first thanksgiving as a married couple.

i adopted him from a feed store in luling, texas after my mom told me about the litter of kittens.

a friend of ours was so sure that i would not be able to catch him...and he came right to me.

he was only about 3 months old at the time.

my husband named him before even seeing him because he knew i was going after the orange one.

he was named, cheeto (even though he really is more tan than orange).

 he became our practice baby before our children were born. 

he lives inside and has a very interesting personality.

his breed is a maine coon. 

they are very large cats that act like dogs.

 he likes to be up on the couch and/or bed with us. 

he greets chad and the kids everyday at the door.

he loves cuddling with me.

he is 11 years old and anyone who has known us well in the past 10 years asks about him and are usually surprised he is still alive. (growing up my pets always lived for a long time. this is what i am used to.)

but we noticed that he was starting to limp recently and not wanting to go upstairs. 

for as long as we remember, he always goes to bed with us.

this had us worried, so we took him to a vet today. 

she is wonderful! she has a son in cari's class and she loves main coons. 

he might have hurt himself and probably has arthritis on top of that. 

we went home with pain medicine and supplements for him.

we won't encourage him to jump up anymore, 

but i'm sure we will spend more time down on the floor with him :)

how much can you cram into one weekend...?

last weekend almost seems like a blur.

friday was my father-in-law's birthday. 

we went to luling and had supper and cake.

i made him a whopper's cake for fun.

saturday was the longest day ever.

our children competed in the psia competition.

(this is a private school's url meet.)

it pretty much consists of cramming as many kids and parents as possible in one of the school's cafeteria while we nervously wait until our time to compete.

our children did great. many of our hill country students are headed to state.

this was cari's first time to be able to participate and she entered in for creative writing.

she had the most fun hanging out with her classmates.

i'm so proud of her for doing her best.

camille is a former state competitor in storytelling and competed in spelling last year.

this year she tried music memory and this was her final year for storytelling.

(she is listening to 16 different classical pieces before the test.)

she made it to the finals for storytelling only to be told she could not compete because she would not be finished with music memory in time.

this was upsetting and i could write a whole book about this one lady that made my life miserable for several hours, but it all went away when we found out that camille got first place in music memory!

she qualified for the state which means we will be taking another trip to fort worth the weekend of may 5th.

it is always held at tcu.

this is a very hard competition and we are so proud of her. i would much rather her go and compete at state for this competition because in storytelling they have to dress up and perform on stage. it was completely nerve-racking that year.

 (their ribbons on display on our family tack board :)

while waiting for the results, we went and got cupcakes and did a little fun shopping.

 (next time you are in the new braunfels/gruene area you must stop by.

gruene flour cupcakery

 

after our 8 hour day, we then followed it with a birthday party.

it was a lego party for one of cari's good buddies.

 cari as a lego

on sunday we snuck out of church early and went to go see the muppet's (which was cute) at the new alamo draft house that just opened up in south austin. we were the very first show! they were training their staff so we got a big discount on the movie and our food. it was much needed after our hectic saturday.

we plan on going back to the same theater for the midnight showing of hunger games in a few weeks.

(which will be another blurry weekend :)

ipod conundrum

my oldest daughter is 9 years old.

every girl in her class got an ipod for christmas, except her.

she is always this kid! 

(her parents are a little strict)

she attends a small private school and has 3 other girls in her 3rd grade class. 

(3 out of 4 have an ipod) the 4th grade girls are also loaded with them!

i felt she was too young to get something like that.

i didn't like the idea of her having access to the internet or texting 24/7.

as a result, all her girlfriends are exchanging #'s and she feels left out.

*Ugh*

so, i have offered her my iphone to text on. 

as a result, she keeps getting more and more friends contacting her.

friends are sharing "her" or MY #.

i think i am about ready to cave about the ipod situation.

i gave in and told her she could save up her money and buy one.

 (knowing that might take awhile :)

she now has $30 saved up and looking to make more.

she has stopped looking in the justice magazines 

and deciding not to buy much at target.

she is a girl with a mission.

she is looking for work. planning a lemonade stand. 

she already cleaned my baseboards, blinds, and windows for a few bucks.

what is happening? she is trying to grow up too fast!!!

does your child have an ipod or how do you stand on the topic?

you want me to eat what?

i saw my pcp (primary care physician)

recently and i was talking with her about food, fitness, and running.

she had a lot of great advise.

one thing she recommended was for me to try was this for lean protein.

the funny thing about it is the fact that my parents used to raise ostriches for a living.

after having some success the first year, we moved to the country to breed and board ostriches.

i  always thought it was the worst idea in the world, but they didn't ask me.

the idea was to mass produce ostriches like the cattle business.

 the meat is very lean and surprisingly tastes like beef.

i also have eaten their eggs which are quite fluffy and delicious.

but raising them were very difficult and expensive.

in the end, the whole thing tanked for us! 

so, i find it ironic that 20 years later i am buying ostrich jerky.

* 

we also tried starfruit for the first time as a family.

it was very delicious!

have you tried anything interesting to eat lately?